


Understandings

by ashleigh



Series: Moments in the lives of Clex [3]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-17 05:56:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3517952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleigh/pseuds/ashleigh





	Understandings

Here’s part three, it’s quite short and I’d planned more but I’ll put that into the next one. I’m using these to practice writing shorter stories more as everything I write seems to turn into some massive epic. Anyway, please enjoy. 

OOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOO

 

Clark crossed his ankles and spun the new mobile around in his hand, marveling at the amount of guilt and happiness that could be associated with a phone. Lex had given it to him as a present, a way for them to keep in touch without using the landline. His friend was now back in the castle, most of the renovations having been completed in the main living areas, which should have made it easier for them to meet up however his parents had now begun to comment on how often he’d been staying late at school or how many girlfriends Pete must be going through for him to need so many ‘guy nights’ with Clark. 

So when Lex had handed him the brand new, shiny phone he’d taken it was a smile and a thank you, his heart fluttering at the knowledge that Lex needed contact with him as much as he needed it with the millionaire. His thoughts were scattered by the gentle buzzing of his phone and he flipped the phone open happily.

“Hey Lex.” He greeted, sounding a little breathless as he kept his voice close to a whisper so his mum or dad wouldn’t hear him. “Is something wrong?”

“Why? Does something have to be wrong for me to call you?”

“You’re at work today, you never call while you’re at work.” Clark pointed out, frowning slightly at the slight crunching noises coming through the receiver. 

“You know my work schedule? That’s called stalking Clark.” 

“Oh so is it stalking that you know my school schedule?” he teased, leaning back against the headboard of his bed and relaxing. 

“Touché. And I’m on my lunch break.”

Ahh so that’s what the crunching sound was, Lex must be having actually food for lunch today instead of caffeine. 

“Have you got any plans for your weekend?” Lex asked him, and Clark imagined he was leaning back in his office chair with his feet kicked up onto his desk. 

“Not really, the usual. But mum and dad are going away for the weekend. It’s dad’s birthday tomorrow.” 

“And they’re leaving you home alone? After the last time? Well I hope I’m getting an invite to whatever wild party you’ll be throwing.” 

“Urgh don’t even joke about that. I’ve been getting non-stop lectures all week about being responsible and honoring their trust in me. They still don’t believe that I didn’t plan that party.” He groaned, rubbing his eyes. 

“You throw one wild, drunken party and it haunts you forever.” Lex laughed, taking another bite of whatever he was eating and Clark chuckled along quietly with him. 

“Hey did you wanna come over? You can stay the night and we’ll watch shitty movies and eat pizza.” He asked suddenly, grateful that Lex couldn’t see the light blush making its way up his neck. 

“Are you inviting me to a sleepover?” 

Even through the phone, the older man sounded nonplussed and Clark would guess he was frowning heavily. Lex didn’t like being caught off guard, not even by him. 

“Yeah ya know, like you did as a kid. Sit in our pajamas and eat junk food and drink soda all night.” 

“With everything you know about me Clark, what makes you think I did any of those things when I was your age?” 

“What did you do when you were my age?” 

“Oh ya know, sex, drugs, and rock and roll… just without the rock and roll.” 

Clark both loved and hated when Lex said things like that. He loved that the other man trusted him enough to share a part of his past, even if it was only bits and pieces but he hated how much sadness Lex had in his past. For the most part Lex gave off an air of someone who knew exactly what they were doing, but moments like this reminded Clark that his friend was only twenty-two and had a past that would haunt men much older than him. 

“Well then, come over and I’ll show you how we do it on the farm.” 

Lex laughed and Clark could hear the creak of his office chair as he shifted and the crinkle of wrapping being scrunched up. “I’ll come by after work. Now I need to get back to work.” 

“Cool. See you later then.” 

“See you later farm boy.” 

Clark flipped his phone shut and a wide grin spread across his face and he felt almost giddy, an entire weekend with Lex. No interruptions, no waiting to be caught, just him and Lex alone all night. The thought made his stomach clench in arousal at all the things they could do with the night but he pushed it aside. He couldn’t allow himself to think like that, not with the way things currently were. 

Yes they were close, and Clark was almost certain they’d been flirting with each other for weeks but he was scared. Crossing the line had nearly ruined his and Chloe’s friendship, it was only now just getting back to normal and he wasn’t sure if he was willing to risk that with Lex. What if what he felt wasn’t real and was just residue feelings created by sharing such a personal secret with Lex? What if they crossed the line and everything fell apart and he was left more alone than ever? 

Before he could dwell on it anymore he heard the floorboards outside his bedroom door creak and he shoved the phone under his pillow quickly. 

“Honey, can I come in?” Martha called through the door, knocking softly.

“Yeah mum.” he answered, controlling his racing heart. 

Martha came in slowly, as though nervous about seeing something she shouldn’t. She looked at him with a mixture of concern and love that seemed to be her default feelings towards him lately. She always looked ready to receive some awful news whenever he was in the room. He couldn’t blame her, she wasn’t Jonathon, and she would have seen how he’d changed lately. 

The late nights away from home and the secrecy was beginning to worry her and Clark knew it was only a matter of time before she started digging around and asking questions. He hated that he was making her feel this way but he knew he couldn’t tell her the truth, not yet; all it would do was hurt her. 

“What’s up mum?”

“Are you sure you’re going to be ok by yourself?”

He’d lost count of the number of times he’d been asked that in the last few days and had to resist the urge to roll his eyes and groan, instead giving her his best, gentle smile. “Of course mum, it’ll be fine.”

She returned the smile tightly and moved to leave the room but seemed to think better of it, pausing in the doorway before turning back around and perching on the edge of Clark’s be, looking at him with soft eyes. “Are you ok Clark?” 

“Course I am, why?” his stomach flipped unpleasantly and he was slightly ashamed by how easily the lying game now. 

“It’s just, ever since Nixon, you’ve been different. Not bad! Just different and I was wondering if there’s anything you wanted to talk about?” She asked softly, resting his hand on Clark’s ankle. 

The smart part of Clark was telling him to brush her off but he needed some advice and he couldn’t ask whom he’d usually ask; asking Lex about his feelings for Lex made him cringe inside. Plus giving her a small insight into his life at the moment might help alleviate some of the guilt. 

“It can stay between us if that’s what you’re worried about?” She added, understanding that it might be something Clark wasn’t comfortable having his dad knowing. 

“How…” he begun only to start fidgeting and picking at his sheets. “How do you know when you love someone or when it’s just a crush?” he finally managed to force out, terrified that she could see ‘Lex Luthor’ written across his face in giant flashing letters. 

Martha blinked before sighing and appearing to sink in on herself. He knew how awkward these kinds of discussions made her, him growing up was hard enough, the thought of him having adult, romantic and sexual feelings for another person made her heart clench. 

“It just feels different, I don’t know how else to explain it. A crush feels wonderful, you feel bubbly and happy and invincible, and it’s like a constant fluttering in your stomach. Love is more…bone deep.” She explained slowly. “Why don’t you try saying how you feel out loud, that’s usually a good way to clarify things.” 

“I don’t know how I feel that’s the problem! I thought I loved Lana and I was wrong, then I thought Chloe and I might have something but that just messed everything up. With Lana everything felt so… intense; I always felt so awkward and so nervous that if I said the wrong thing she wouldn’t like me. Just thinking about talking to her made me feel ill with nerves!” he admitted, everything pouring out now that he’d open the door. “This feels different, it’s not scary or awkward it’s… easy. It’s like putting on a jacket you’ve owned for years, its warm and comfortable and safe and everything just…fits like it was made for you.” His voice had dropped down low and wistful as memories of lying in bed next to Lex swam before his eyes, the warmth of his friend’s body, how natural everything felt. 

Martha watched him closely, feeling her heart ache at his words. She wasn’t prepared for this; she’d been naïve enough to hope she’d escape this for a few more years yet. “That doesn’t sound like a crush Clark.” She leaned over and rubbed his arm soothingly. “Honey, is this about Chloe?” 

“No! Christ mum, no it’s not Chloe!” he immediately regretted the force behind his words but what had happened between him and Chloe still stung. 

“Well who is she?” he asked, taken aback by the outburst. 

Clark dropped his eyes to his lap and gave her a halfhearted shrug, knowing he’d already given too much away. There was no need to dig himself a deeper hole by lying about a non-existent girl and he certainly wasn’t going to tell her the truth. He and Lex hadn’t discussed anything yet, something he’d just silently agreed to do over the weekend. He needed to know one way or another where it was going. 

Thankfully Martha understood that pushing the matter wasn’t going to get her anywhere and instead smiled and patted his knee. 

“Well I’m here when you’re ready and whoever she is, I’m sure she’s lovely. 

“Yeah.” He answered non-committedly, grateful for when she stood up to leave. 

“Your dad and I are leaving in twenty minutes.” She told him before disappearing down the hallway and leaving him to ponder what her reaction would be if he told her the truth. 

Whatever it would be, it would pale in comparison to his dad’s reaction. They’d never discussed homosexuality so he wasn’t sure either way how that part of it would go down, although Jonathon was a stereotypical mans man, so Clark guessed the reaction wouldn’t be positive. Of course then there was the Luthor thing to deal with, the six years older than Clark thing and of course the fact that Lex Luthor now knew the Kent’s deepest, darkest secret. 

Clark sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly before sliding off the bed and making his way downstairs to say a proper goodbye to his parents. The last thing he wanted was them cancelling their plans and ruining his own plans. His dad was standing by the door while he mum flittered around the kitchen checking for the hundredth time that everything was turned off and Clark wasn’t accidently going to gas himself. 

“Mum, I can take care of the house for twenty-fours.” He laughed, sitting at the kitchen table and plucking an apple from the fruit bowel and biting into it just as she spun around to glare at him. 

“That’s what you said last time and look what we came home to.” His dad spoke up from the doorway. 

“That wasn’t my fault, it was just meant to be Chloe and Pete; I didn’t know the entire school was going to show up at my house.” 

“Just remember what you promised.” 

“No friends over; not even Chloe or Pete.” He repeated with a sigh. 

“A definitely not Luthor.” Jonathan added sternly, making sure Clark knew there was no room for argument.

“No Lex. I promise.” 

“We’re trusting you here Clark.”

“And I’m telling you it’ll be fine. I’m going spend the weekend doing my chores and watching tv, you’ll be home before I’ve realised you’re gone.” 

Jonathan opened his mouth to respond but was silenced by a look from Martha.

“We know Honey, we just worry.” 

It took another ten minutes of going over the rules and farm schedule before Clark succeeded in shuffling his parents out of the house and on their way. When they’d finally pulled out of the driveway he checked his watch and saw he still had a few hours before Lex finished work and decided to get his chores done before the other man arrived so they’d have no interruptions. 

Clark was just stepping out of the shower when he heard Lex’s car pulling up outside the house and he dried off his hair absently, knowing Lex would let himself in and wait in the kitchen. His stomach flipped at the thought of what might happen and he forced himself to relax and breathe. The last thing he wanted was to push anything and make it awkward between them, so he’d let things progress naturally. One thing was certain of though, before the weekend was over, Clark would know one way or another whether he and Lex could be anything more. 

 

OOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOO

Well there’s part three, I’m so happy people are liking this, it’s always scary writing for a new fandom for the first time and knowing I’m doing well helps me so much. Thank you all.


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